- Just a couple of days after another major movie release delay, Cineworld (OTC:CNWGY) is set to close all its 543 Regal Cinema venues and its 128 theaters in the U.K. and Ireland.
- On Friday, MGM (OTC:MGMB) and Universal (NASDAQ:CMCSA) pushed the release of the latest James Bond title No Time to Die, Daniel Craig's last outing in the role, to April 2021.
- The delays of tentpole releases is making movie exhibition "unviable", U.K.-based Cineworld is expected to write to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
- The closures, with no timeline for reopening, will affect 5,500 jobs in the U.K.
- Delayed titles Wonder Woman 1984 and Dune (NYSE:T) are set for December release, so far. The top film on release calendars pre-December is now Pixar (NYSE:DIS) release Soul, set for Nov. 20.
- The decision will raise questions for other theater operators: AMC (NYSE:AMC), Cinemark (NYSE:CNK), IMAX (NYSE:IMAX), Marcus (NYSE:MCS), Reading International (NASDAQ:RDI) and in-cinema advertiser National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI).